The art of website localisation: the ultimate guide

Translated from Spanish by: Sofía Conesa Carbajal

In our increasingly interconnected society, the digital world plays a key role in removing geographical and language barriers. Localising websites has become an essential strategy for companies looking to expand their business and reach a global audience. In this guide, we will explore the complexities of website localisation, covering everything from strategic planning and market research to SEO optimization and different marketing strategies. Here you will find all you need to know to launch your localisation project and get an online presence that opens the doors to the markets that interest you the most.

Step 1: Strategic planning and preparation

Before you dive into the twisting details of website localisation, begin with a well-planned strategy. Some important issues to consider in this step are:

1. Set clear objectives. Your localisation project needs to have a specific purpose. Are you looking to increase global sales, improve brand recognition, or satisfy a specific target audience?
2. Set a defined budget. Allocating resources properly is crucial. However, it is also important to consider all the costs associated to translation, cultural adaptation, and technical adjustments.
3. Define a timeline. Developing a realistic timeline for the localisation process – taking into consideration the research, translation, and testing phases – avoids last-minute rushing and ensures a top-quality result.
4. Prepare the content inventory. Preparing an inventory of all the website content, including text, images, videos and other multimedia elements will help us identify what needs to be localised and what may not be so urgent.

At Lingua we not only localise the text, we also take care of adapting the alternative texts of the images, dubbing or subtitling the videos, and including the appropriate search terms, as we will see below.

Step 2: Market research

Understanding your target markets is essential to localisation success. This requires thorough market research to identify cultural nuances, preferences, and competitive landscapes. Two key considerations in this phase are:

1. Cultural sensitivity. These types of projects require acknowledging and respecting cultural differences, such as values, customs, and taboos, to avoid showing unintentional cultural insensitivity in our content.
2. A competitor analysis. Studying local competitors to identify trends and opportunities in your target markets is always recommended.

At Lingua we have wide experience at this type of adaptations, we understand cultural differences and we collaborate with experts who guide us. Whether this part of the process is too time-consuming for you or you need advice, you can rely on us to handle everything for you.

Keywords optimisation

The keyword research phase is an essential part of localisation, as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in foreign markets depends heavily on keyword research. You have to invest time in finding the right keywords and phrases that will appeal to your target audience.

Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help identify region-specific high-ranking keywords. This tool is quite simple, but unfortunately it is also quite limited. There are other paid tools that produce much better results. The good news is that you do not need any subscription, since one of the services we offer at Lingua is creating keyword listings in the target language. In fact, this is a common preliminary request when it comes to localising a website. Therefore, we can adapt the texts using the most searched words in another language, and thus increase the traffic to your website.

Technical aspects of your website

Another issue to consider in the internationalization of your website involves adapting it to multiple languages and cultures from a technical perspective. Here are some key considerations:

1. Select a multilingual CMS. We encourage you to choose a CMS (Content Management System) that supports multiple languages, facilitating the addition, editing and management of content in different languages.
2. Review the character encoding. Make sure that the website to be localised can display characters of several languages correctly, especially non-Latin scripts, such as Chinese or Arabic.
3. Pay attention to the URL structure. Creating a clear and consistent URL structure that reflects language and region helps both users and search engines in web browsing.

User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)

Finally, we cannot forget the user experience. This must be natural and intuitive for visitors from different regions. Here are some keys to achieving it:

1. Language selection. You should always go for an easy-to-use language selector. It will be visible on your website and allow users to easily switch between languages. To avoid conflicts, avoid using country flags to identify different languages. Instead, use the ISO language codes: EN For English, ES for Spanish and RO for Romanian, for example.
2. Invest in cultural adaptations. Sometimes it is advisable to modify the visual elements, colour palettes and design elements to match the cultural aesthetics of your target audience.
3. Currency and payment methods. Adapting prices, currencies and payment options to your local audience’s preferences is very important. In Spanish, for example, the currency goes after the number. Therefore, the Spanish version of “€34.95” would be “34,95 €”. As you can see, in addition to the change of place of the symbol of the euro, the dot is changed to a comma, since in Spanish the comma is more commonly used to separate the decimals.

Step 3: Content translation

This is the obvious step. Once the contents are prepared and the research is completed, we move on to the translation and adaptation of the texts, graphics and other files to be localised on the website.

At Lingua we can translate a wide variety of formats thanks to our specialized software. This allows us to work efficiently and take advantage of all the benefits of current technology to focus our efforts on ensuring that texts and images in the target languages make the most of the market research results.

Step 4: Testing phase

Once the website has been translated, it is essential to check that everything works correctly. Thorough testing is key to ensure a smooth user experience and to identify any issues before the launch. The types of tests that are performed include:

1. Language tests. To ensure that translations are accurate, and content is culturally appropriate.
2. Functional tests. To evaluate all the functionalities of the website, including forms, shopping carts and navigation, in different languages and regions.
3. Performance tests. To verify the loading times and responsiveness of the website in various locations.
4. User tests. User feedback is collected in the target market to identify any usability or cultural issues.

This may seem like a lot, but at Lingua we take care of all these tests thanks to our professional staff all over the world.

Now it is time for SEO optimization

This long-awaited point was mentioned above, and this is where it comes into play.

Optimizing your localised website for search engines is crucial for visibility and traffic. Here are the most relevant aspects to consider:

1. Localised keywords. Researched keywords must be used in the content displayed on the website, as well as meta tags and a URL for each language version on your website.
2. Hreflang tags: Hreflang tags need to be implemented to inform search engines about the language and regional targeting of the pages.
3. Local backlinks. It does not hurt to generate local links to increase the authority of the website in each region. For instance, when a page links to a study at a local university in the region of origin, finding a similar study at a university in the region of destination may be of interest when localising the website.

Next: marketing your localised website

Once the localised website is translated and published, marketing takes an essential role in reaching the target audience. Strategies we always encourage our clients to implement include:

1. Social networks. Create and build local social media profiles to interact with your audience and share culturally relevant content. It may even be that the social network is one you are not currently on, such as Qzone in China or VK (V Kontakte) in Russia.
2. Email marketing. Tailor email campaigns to specific regions, offering region-specific promotions and content.
3. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC): Use region-specific PPC campaigns to attract targeted traffic.
4. Content Marketing. Create region-specific content, such as blog posts and videos, to interact with your audience and establish your brand locally. Our advice is to make a calendar of local holidays and make sure you publish content that interests local or regional people on their special days.

Localisation is not just for venturing out of Spain

Have you ever thought about the number of people living in a country without speaking the local language? Taking Spain as an example, we all know that there are a large number of foreigners – known as EXPATS – living in the Iberian Peninsula. Since many of them are retired, they often did not learn the local language and simply want to enjoy their new stage under the Mediterranean sun.

For many companies, these residents are a very profitable target audience. But they may not know how to advertise for them. The answer is simple: localising products and websites. You can make a local page in the same region but in the language of the target audience to offer a product or service to that particular market. Once it is done, through the previously mentioned PPC and social media campaigns – in this case segmented by language and age – it is relatively easy to get them to your landing page.

Ultimately

Localising websites is a complex but rewarding process that allows companies to reach new markets and connect with a diverse audience. By carefully planning, conducting thorough research, optimizing for SEO, and implementing effective marketing strategies, you can achieve a perfectly localised online presence that resonates with your target audience. In a globalised world, website localisation is not just an option; but a must for growth and success.